Pioneering AI Scientist Unveils Groundbreaking 3D World-Building Platform

In a significant move, renowned AI pioneer Dr. Fei-Fei Li has co-founded World Labs, a company dedicated to advancing the field of spatial intelligence. This nascent area, which Li believes is the "defining challenge of the next decade," aims to create generative AI models that can "perceive, generate, reason, and interact with the 3D world."

Last fall, World Labs raised $230 million to support its ambitious goals. This week, the company has released its first commercial product, Marble, which allows users to generate their own downloadable 3D worlds from text, image, or video prompts. Li, who is also the CEO of World Labs, believes that spatial intelligence has the potential to transform various sectors, from storytelling and filmmaking to architecture, robotics, and scientific discovery.

"Bringing 3D to life, and understanding the richness of spatial and 3D stuff, is just a whole next level beyond the baseline of most of these other single modes," says Ben Mildenhall, the co-founder of World Labs. He adds that the ability to empower people to build 3D environments much more rapidly can lead to a "radical change" in how they ideate, iterate, and edit these virtual spaces.

Marble offers four subscription tiers, ranging from a free plan to a premium "Max" tier that allows up to 75 world generations per month. The Verge was able to generate various 3D environments, including an open-air castle with waterfalls and Hobbit-like spherical homes. While the free tier has some limitations, the paid tiers offer more editing options and commercial rights, making Marble a versatile tool for a wide range of applications.